Daily Digest

Doctor Files Loan on Chiropractic Clinic

The owner of the Spinal Healthcare Associates, Cordova Pain Treatment Center at 8132 Country Village Drive in Cordova has filed a $1.4 million loan on the property.

Rock A. Wooster, one of the chiropractic clinic’s doctors, filed the deed of trust Aug. 22 through Renasant Bank.

Built in 2007, the Class A, 11,669-square-foot office medical facility sits on 1.6 acres at the northeast corner of Country Village Drive and Cordova Road. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2013 appraisal is $1.5 million.

Police Propose Facility for Rape Kit Storage

A move by some Memphis City Council members to have a backlog of thousands of rape kits tested has prompted Memphis Police Department brass to propose a new $1 million facility to house and process current and future rape kits.

Council members heard the broad outlines of the proposal during Tuesday, Sept. 3, committee sessions from the administration of Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr.

The new space would be part of the police evidence facility at the old International Harvester plant in Frayser. The council would review more specific plans and cost estimates for the addition. It would be staffed with existing police personnel, according to city chief administrative officer George Little.

The unprocessed rape kits, some of them dating back to the 1980s, are currently stored at three police locations, according to Memphis Police director Toney Armstrong.

– Bill Dries

Health Care Groups Form UT Methodist Physicians

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, UT Medical Group Inc. and The University of Tennessee Health Science Center have teamed up to create a new academic physician group, officials said Friday.

The new practice, UT Methodist Physicians, launched on Sept. 1 and includes urology, surgical oncology and most adult medicine specialties, such as internal medicine, pulmonology and endocrinology.

New economic realities are pushing local hospitals to purchase physician practices at a pace not seen since the last wave of consolidation in the 1990s. In Memphis, many physicians have chosen to align with the region’s three major hospital systems: Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp., Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and Saint Francis Healthcare.

Fifty-three doctors and 80 supporting staff members have joined the new UT Methodist Physicians group, becoming Methodist Le Bonheur employees.

“As Methodist continues to align with physician practices whose goals closely mirror ours, this is the right thing to do for our patients,” said Gary Shorb, president and chief executive officer of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. “It will ensure that we are all on the same page regarding quality measures and efficiency of patient care.”

– Jennifer Johnson Backer

Certificate of Need Approved for Baptist Hospital-DeSoto

Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto in Southaven has been given state approval to add therapeutic radiation equipment to its existing radiation services at the hospital.

The Mississippi State Department of Health issued a certificate of need for the project this week. Mississippi requires a certificate to avoid duplication of health care services and control costs.

Baptist Memorial Hospital proposes to increase the number of radiation therapy units that are used for regular service from one to two. The project will entail converting the existing backup unit at BMH-D to regular, full-time use.

M&P Bank Home Loans is a consumer mortgage provider with offices in East Memphis, Collierville and Little Rock. Former M&P Bank Home Loans offices and all staff will operate as Triumph Mortgage, a division of Triumph Bank.

The purchase will more than quadruple Triumph’s mortgage division staff.

Triumph also is adding a wholesale and correspondent lending division to its business with the purchase of Community Bankers Mortgage Group.

– Andy Meek

Calsonic Kansei Adding 1,200 Jobs in Tennessee

Auto parts supplier Calsonic Kansei North America is adding 1,200 jobs at three facilities in Tennessee.

Gov. Bill Haslam announced Tuesday, Sept. 3, that the Nissan subsidiary is adding the positions to plants in Shelbyville, Lewisburg and Smyrna.

Haslam was joined in the announcement by the company's president and CEO, Shingo Yamamoto, and Motohiko Kato, the Japanese consul general of Japan in Nashville.

According to the company's website, Calsonic currently employs 700 people in Shelbyville and another 890 in Lewisburg. Another 560 people work at Calsonic facilities in Smyrna and in Canton, Miss., where Nissan assembles vehicles.

Consistent job gains and mortgage rates that are still historically low despite recent upticks are spurring more people to buy homes.

That's helped drive prices higher.

CoreLogic says U.S. home prices are now within 18 percent of their peak levels reached in April of 2006.

– The Associated Press

US Construction Spending Up 0.6 Percent in July

Spending on U.S. construction projects rose in July, led by strong gains in housing and nonresidential projects.

Construction spending increased 0.6 percent in July compared with June when activity was unchanged, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday, Sept. 3. The June performance represented an upward revision from an initial estimate that spending had fallen 0.6 percent.

Total construction activity rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $900.8 billion in July, the strongest performance since June 2009.

The July gain reflected a 0.6 percent rise in housing construction with both single-family and apartment construction posting gains. In June, housing had fallen 0.9 percent.

Government projects fell 0.3 percent in July with state and local spending down 0.4 percent. That drop more than offset a 1.1 percent rise in the smaller federal category.

The advance in housing activity pushed residential construction to its highest level since September 2008. The increase for nonresidential building was led by a 6.1 percent increase in construction of hotels and motels. Office building and the category that covers shopping centers also showed gains.

Total construction is 5.2 percent higher than it was a year ago, with residential activity up 17.2 percent and nonresidential construction up by a more modest 2 percent. Public construction is down 3.7 percent from a year ago as all levels of government are still facing tight budget constraints.